Disclaimer: I don't own Ducktales!

Title: Quite the Pair

Summary: Sick of seeing his family moping, Duckworth decides to drag Lena back to the living.

...

"This place is dreadfully dirty, isn't it?"

Lena startled. The shadow pulled her head from her knees, blinking at the phantom with slitted blue eyes. In a world of darkness, it had been easiest to duck behind a dip and hide, and so she had. In the distance was the baying of other shadows, more powerful than her, who had every intention of tearing her limb from shadowy limb.

"You shouldn't be here," she said, voice hoarse with disuse.

The ghost raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I'm serious, man. This is- this is a place for nightlings. You're just dead." Lena shrugged the concept off. "I dunno what hole in space you slipped in from-"

"I'll have you know it took me months of prepping and biding energy for this."

"Whatever." She turned away, sparing a hesitant look over the dip. No one had heard them yet, but it was only a matter of time. "Just get out of here while you still can."

There was a pause. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"I'm not an idiot," she said without heat. "You're Duckworth. I saw your painting in the mansion."

"Did young Ms. Vanderquack speak of me?"

Lena flinched, glaring daggers at the spirit. "Webby talks a little about everything. I'm not getting into the specifics with you."

Rather than argue, Duckworth bent at the knee to get on level with her. "Who are we hiding from?"

"Uh, long story short? My sort-of-siblings."

"I beg your pardon?"

"D'ya have to talk so fancy? We're in actual shadow hell." Lena rolled her eyes. "Okay, so the gist of it is that Aunt Magica has made a lot of shadow minions, but she destroyed most of them really quick. They're a little salty that I got fifteen years out there when they were lucky to get fifteen minutes."

"Understandable."

"Sure. But I ain't gonna lay down and let them absorb me, either."

"Hmm," Duckworth said as he smoothed out his jacket collar. "You're not particularly attached to them, are you?"

"Why?"

"It pains me to admit this, but I may have overexerted myself. If I'm to bring us back, I'll need a little more power." A whirlwind surrounded him, bringing forth the form of a demon. "I'll be right back."

"Don't you leave me here-" she pleaded, reaching for a handhold, but he was gone. Lena sucked in a deep breath and buried her face in her hands, wishing even the slightest bit of this made sense.

"They were more of a light snack than an actual threat," the demon uttered, signaling his return. His spooky voice and glowy eyes reminded her of an angry Aunt Magica, which made her wary on the principle. He held out a hand. "I'm sorry your family reunion didn't quite go to plan. I happen to throw killer parties, actually. Be sure to call me next time, and I'll make sure things go more smoothly."

Lena stood up. "That pun was terrible, just FYI."

"What pun?" He sounded amused, though his skull face gave nothing away. Her fingers were far colder than his. "I died at one of my parties. It was so good I simply couldn't go on."

Lena had expected a lot of feelings when she broke through the barrier. She wasn't sure what kind, per say, but she imagined it wouldn't be pretty.

But she'd forgotten her ever-damning freeze response, her lack of feeling when the shock of being alive and having a body kicked in like it had years prior, and then there was a tiny voice yelling if you don't look out a window this very instant the world will end, and she did.

Her breath caught.

Holy shit.

The mansion sits high on the hill, so despite being in the middle of Duckburg Lena could see the ocean with ease. The sun is setting, dyeing the waves pink and orange and wow, this is the most color she's seen since getting blasted in the gut. Lena's crying, just a little, but it's not like anyone important can see it, so for once she doesn't try to force the tears back.

"Ahem," Duckworth said, tucking his arms behind his back. "We have a very busy schedule ahead of us. Mr. McDuck and family are due in sometime tomorrow. I doubt this form is permanent, but you need to be cleaned and fed before we can bother tackling- are you climbing out the window?"

Lena, her front half already out said window, paused. "No?"

"This is the second floor," he harrumphed. "You could break your bones!"

"It's not like I'm a real person," she shot back. "You just said this bod is fake."

"It's a temporary solution while we work toward something better." Duckworth sighed, shaking his head. "I couldn't leave you in that place, Ms. de Spell. Mr. McDuck wouldn't approve."

Lena pulled herself in long enough to snort derisively. "Scrooge doesn't care about me. He doesn't even know me."

"Maybe, but he's quite fond of Ms. Vanderquack, and she's quite fond of you."

That was a whole other can of emotional worms Lena had no idea how to open, let alone handle. Lena opened her mouth to object, then closed it when she took in the butler's disheveled state as he leaned on a nearby chair. "Dude, what happened to you?"

Duckworth huffed out a laugh. "I'm not quite as spry as I used to be. Not to mention that I rarely leave the mansion- my haunting grounds, so to speak. It takes a lot out of an old dog."

"Are you going to ghost-die on me? I can't be responsible for your ghost-murder. I wouldn't last a day in ghost-jail."

"It sounds to me that you watch too much Danny Pelican."

She raised an eyebrow. "How does someone as old as dino dirt know-"

"I have four young charges. Five, now. I see more than my fair share of cartoons."

Lena took a self-conscious step back, grabbing the windowsill. She was lost to the fact that she could feel the wood a second, ultimately shaking herself out of it. "I'm not your 'charge'."

Duckworth frowned. "Ms. de Spell-"

"Cut the crap, okay? You got me back for Scrooge? Well, good job- he doesn't have to feel guilty anymore." Lena stuck her leg out the window. "I'm gone."

A ghost hand appeared on her arm. He was surprisingly strong. "I can't allow you to do that."

She jerked away. "Let me go!"

"They grieved for you!" Duckworth snapped. His grip tightened. "I've watched them cry over you for months! You can't just-"

Lena whirled around. "I'm a shadow!" she spat. She pushed rather than pulled this time, forcing Duckworth to back up. "I'm no different from that 'light snack' you had earlier. All I did different was that I survived. Don't say you people care about me when literally no one with a brain would."

"Forgive me if I see a difference between half-baked beings of malice and a teenager," he replied. "It's not fair how Magica treated you. Treated all of you. But you had a chance to grow and evolve into your own being. They didn't."

"That doesn't make it right," she mumbled wretchedly.

"No," he agreed. "It doesn't."

Lena slumped against the wall with a sigh, the fight leaving her. "Have I really been gone for months? They don't exactly have clocks in shadow hell."

Duckworth ruffled her top feathers with a comforting hand. "You have a lot of catching up to do, yes, but it gets easier. Take it from someone else who got brought back."

Author's Note: Not entirely satisfied with this, but it suddenly popped into my head that ghosts and shadows are a pretty dope mix and here we are lol.

-Mandaree1